SK C&C Signs NFC M-Commerce Agreement with Wirecard

SK C&C (www.skcc.com) announced that it had signed a strategic business collaboration agreement for the expansion of the NFC (near field communication) payment market in Europe with Wirecard (www.wirecard.com), a provider of payment processing services and technologies, on Oct.

SK C&C and Wirecard have agreed to commercialize the Trusted Services Manager (TSM)* service for NFC-based mobile payments by the end of this year and make full-fledged entry into the European m-commerce solutions market for financial institutions, mobile network operators (MNOs) and services providers.

Under the agreement, Wirecard products and services will be integrated with CorFire’s Mobile Service Payment Application (MPSA), an NFC API similar to Visa payWave.

Wirecard also plans to launch its own TSM service using CoreFire’s CorTSM to enable payment for not only the Visa/MasterCard stored value account products but also other NFC-enabled mobile payment services, such as vouchering and loyalty programs.

SK C&C, on the other hand, through the network of Wirecard, intends to expand its reach in the European TSM solution market for NFC mobile payments by targeting local companies in the region.

This collaboration with Wirecard, a key partner with major global credit card companies like Visa and MasterCard and large European mobile network operators (MNOs) like VodaFone and Deutsche Telekom, will help SK C&C secure a favorable position in expanding its mobile commerce services in the European market.

Managing Director Susanne Steidl for Wirecard said “Using CorFire, we now can provide contactless payment services to the vendors in the vertical market, including couriers, retailers and ticket sellers.” Steidl went on to say “Through this collaboration, we will offer greatly improved NFC-enabled payment services to industry-leading MNOs and other service providers.”

"Since the launch of our mobile commerce solution over 10 years ago, CorFire has been at the forefront of bringing mobile commerce solutions to the broader, global market," said President Chung Jaehyun of SK C&C USA, and added, “We will expand our m-commerce solutions business in the European market.”

A trusted service manager (TSM) is a service that acts as trusted neutral broker that allows access to the secure element in smart devices, by connecting the MNOs and service providers, such as financial institutions, larger retailers and transportation services.

Recently raised security issues pushed the MNOs and service providers to secure their own TSM and communicate through a standardized interface.There are largely two types of TSM – the secure element issuer TSM (SEI TSM) and the service provider TSM (SP TSM)

SP TSM, which is optimized for baking service providers, is currently being widely adopted by not only the financial institutions but also other service providers, including large merchants and fast food chains, thanks to the booming mobile commerce.